Make Restaurants Profitable

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1 in 4 restaurants ran at a loss last year.And if you’re honest?You’ve probably felt just one bad month away from being part of that stat.I’ve recorded a few episodes for this podcast now and after speaking with some of the best restaurant owners in Australia … nearly every single one of them has been through the same stuff that you’re facing right now.Whether it's finding staff, 80 hour weeks, rising supplier costs, struggling to balance family, no money left to pay yourself, fires, floods … you name it - the guests I’ve spoken to have seen it all.Some of them are now industry leaders and experts, with successful restaurants, franchises, turning over millions in revenue, and even stocking their products in supermarketsThis podcast is about what really made the difference.The stuff no one talks about.The mindset shifts, the messy moments, and the moves that actually worked.So if you’re: Sick of grinding with nothing to show for it Ready to finally pay yourself properly Wanting a business that runs without you there 24/7Then this is for you.Every week, we’ll break down how to make restaurants profitable againNot just with theory, but real strategies that are working right now.If you need help right now head over to foodiecoaches.com and book a call with our team otherwise hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re tuning in and I’ll see you every WednesdayCheck out the behind the scenes over at @foodie_coaches and @tim.kummerfeld

  1. You Don't Own Your Business. The Community Does: Rabih Yanni on 33 Years in Hospitality

    4 HRS AGO

    You Don't Own Your Business. The Community Does: Rabih Yanni on 33 Years in Hospitality

    Rabih Yanni has spent 33 years in hospitality. Nine venues across nine different postcodes. Currently runs Botanical Hotel in South Yarra — the iconic Melbourne pub he's brought back to life since 2019. Founded South Yarra Deli during COVID and took it national. He's the kind of operator who can walk into a venue, look around, and tell you in five minutes what's broken and how to fix it. But the line that stopped Tim in this conversation was this: "You never own a business. The community does. Your role is to navigate that community expectation." In this episode, Rabih breaks down 33 years of hard-won lessons — the standards he refuses to compromise on, the way he holds team for 20+ years, why he's never bought a business from a good operator, and the one mindset shift that separates owners who survive from owners who scale. This one's a masterclass. You'll hear: 00:00 – "You either win or you learn. You don't make mistakes." 01:00 – Why a 10K week venue is harder than a 100K week venue 02:00 – The line that changes how you see ownership forever 04:00 – Walking the guest's path — how to read what your community actually wants 07:00 – How to stop being store-blind in your own venue 09:00 – Why your suppliers are part of the team, not just service providers 10:00 – Holding staff for 20+ years — what actually creates loyalty 12:00 – Non-negotiables: fingerprints, dog-eared menus, dust on bottles 13:00 – "The standard you walk past is the standard you accept" 15:00 – How Rabih's "intent" shifted from working for himself to growing his team 19:00 – Why hospitality is one of the safest industries to be in right now 20:00 – Never buy a business from a good operator — Rabih's rule for acquisitions 21:00 – "You make your money when you buy" 42:00 – Weekly stocktakes and why most owners avoid them 45:00 – "If you're at $2M with aspirations to grow, do the work or concede you bought a job" 46:00 – Act quicker, fail fast — the lesson Rabih wishes he'd learned earlier 50:00 – The difference between an opportunity and a distraction 51:00 – Advice for anyone thinking about buying their first venue Key takeaways: - You never own a business. The community does. Your job is to navigate the community's expectation. - Secondary can never become primary — but you can't get primary right if you don't get secondary right. - Everyone needs to share in the heavy lifting. Suppliers, service providers, team — not just the owner. - The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. - If you're going to fail, fail fast. Procrastination is the most expensive habit in hospo. - You don't get a second chance at a first impression. If you're ready to build something worth being proud of — and stop being a stranger to your own numbers — book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow Rabih and Botanical Hotel: @botanicalhotel Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    54 min
  2. Fried Chicken, Champagne and Wu-Tang: How Julian Cincotta Built Sydney's Most Unique Restaurant

    MAY 5

    Fried Chicken, Champagne and Wu-Tang: How Julian Cincotta Built Sydney's Most Unique Restaurant

    Julian Cincotta grew up cooking at his family's café in Western Sydney. He went on to train under Neil Perry at Rockpool, won Young Chef of the Year, staged at some of the best restaurants in the world — and then opened a fried chicken and champagne bar in Surry Hills with a sneaker wall and a Wu-Tang soundtrack. Two weeks after they opened, Wu-Tang Clan walked in. That was ten years ago. In this episode, Julian sits down with Tim to talk through the whole decade — the concept nobody believed in, the three venues COVID stripped back to one, the emotional weight of closing something you built, and why he's now one of the loudest voices on sustainability in the Australian hospitality industry. It's a conversation about what it takes to stay relevant, stay true to what you built, and still be standing after ten years in one of the hardest industries in the world. You'll hear: 00:00 – Fried chicken, champagne, sneakers and hip hop — where the idea came from  03:00 – Training at Rockpool and what fine dining teaches you about everything else  06:00 – Winning Young Chef of the Year and what happened next  08:00 – Opening Butter and why nobody thought it would work  10:00 – Wu-Tang walked in two weeks after they opened  13:00 – Scaling to three venues — and why one to three nearly broke them  18:00 – COVID, leases and the decision to close three venues down to one  22:00 – Why closing felt like failure — and why it wasn't  25:00 – Staying relevant after ten years and through a generation of change  28:00 – The partnership lessons nobody tells you upfront  32:00 – How Julian got obsessed with sustainability  36:00 – Compostable packaging, PFAS and why it's more complicated than it looks  42:00 – Turning Mayo buckets into reusable containers  45:00 – The one thing every owner can do today to reduce waste and save money  47:00 – What ten years at Butter actually taught him If you want to go further on sustainability in your venue, Julian is part of HospoDECLARE — a movement connecting hospitality operators across Australia to share practical strategies for reducing waste, electrifying operations, and building more responsible supply chains. It's industry-wide collaboration built for people who actually want to make changes that stick. Check out https://www.hospodeclare.com/ Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    49 min
  3. From Food Truck to Full Restaurant: The Kings of the Wings Share 13 Years of Hard Lessons

    APR 28

    From Food Truck to Full Restaurant: The Kings of the Wings Share 13 Years of Hard Lessons

    Dylan and Katrina started King of the Wings from a little food trailer in 2013. They were among the first food trucks doing wings in Australia. No blueprint. No safety net. Just a gap in the market and a bet on themselves. Thirteen years later they're running a restaurant, a food truck, popups and an interstate operation. But the road there was anything but straight. A collab that went sideways on opening day. A food court concept that COVID killed two weeks in. A Commonwealth Games that turned Surfers Paradise into a ghost town. And a moment where they had to roll up in the middle of the night and take back what was theirs. In this episode, Dylan and Katrina share the real story — the hard lessons, the partnership mistakes, the pivot to bricks and mortar, and why after all of it they'd still do it again. You'll hear: 00:00 – From food trailer to one of Brisbane's most recognised wing brands  03:00 – The collab that looked like a no-brainer — and fell apart on opening day  06:00 – Rolling up in the middle of the night to take back their equipment  08:00 – COVID, a food court concept and pulling the pin after 12 months  09:00 – Going all in on their own — signing the Stafford lease  12:00 – Food truck vs bricks and mortar: what nobody tells you about the switch  18:00 – Why the food truck makes in 2 hours what the restaurant makes in 10  22:00 – The menu engineering lesson that changed everything  28:00 – How JobKeeper changed the labour landscape and why they're still salty about it  35:00 – How to find and keep staff for a food truck operation  42:00 – Hire on attitude, train everything else  45:00 – Their advice for anyone thinking about opening a food truck today If you're ready to build something that actually works — food truck, restaurant or both — book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    47 min
  4. The Man Behind Brisbane's Best Bars on What It Actually Takes to Build Them with Martin Lange

    APR 21

    The Man Behind Brisbane's Best Bars on What It Actually Takes to Build Them with Martin Lange

    Martin Lange has opened eight bars in Brisbane since 2006. He currently runs four. Takes three and a half months off a year. And has trained bartenders now working in some of the best bars in Paris and London. He didn't do it by cutting corners or chasing trends. He did it by committing to a 10-year minimum on every lease, never taking over another venue's location, spending hundreds of thousands on R&D, and building a team culture so strong that the staff who leave for bigger money keep coming back. In this episode, Martin sits down with Tim to talk through what it actually takes to build bars that last — the landlord lessons, the location rules, the obsessive craft standards, and how he built a business that runs without him for months at a time. You'll hear: 00:00 – From Argentina to Brisbane — how Martin ended up in bars  02:00 – The 10-year lease rule and why most operators think too small  05:00 – Paying a year's rent upfront on his first bar (and what it taught him)  08:00 – Why you should never take over an existing venue's location  12:00 – Building a specialty cocktail bar in a city that wasn't ready for it  14:00 – How knowledge trickles down through a team without Chinese whispers  16:00 – Staff who left for bigger pay — and came back within a year  18:00 – The R&D warehouse, the $15K ice machine and why craft is the business model  25:00 – Finding the right landlord (and why it matters more than the location)  35:00 – The block ice business nobody saw coming  53:00 – Cutting ice, losing fingers and taking safety seriously  56:00 – Three and a half months off a year — and why the bars thrive because of it Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    1h 3m
  5. How John Rivera Built His Dream Restaurant Without Sacrificing Time With His Kids

    APR 14

    How John Rivera Built His Dream Restaurant Without Sacrificing Time With His Kids

    John Rivera spent his twenties in fine dining kitchens. Working every Saturday. Missing birthdays. Missing weddings. Then he opened his own restaurant — and found himself video-calling his kids from the pass just to see them awake. Something had to change. In this episode, John — chef and owner of Ascal Restaurant, Inman bar, and Filipino gelato concept Carton — talks about the decision that shifted everything. The boundaries he set, the systems he built, and how he went from working every day on the tools to dropping his kids at kinder before heading into work at midday. He didn't give up the craft. He just refused to let it cost him everything else. You'll hear: 00:00 – Born in the Philippines, raised in New Zealand, built in Melbourne  02:00 – 10 years in fine dining and what it conditions you to accept  05:00 – The viral dish that was costing more than it made  08:00 – Why your numbers are scarier to avoid than to face  13:00 – Two turbulent years and what the growing pains taught him  15:00 – Three days without seeing his kids awake  17:00 – The decision: set the boundary before the burnout  25:00 – Letting staff take risks and why protecting your ego costs more  30:00 – Partnership lessons the hard way  40:00 – Building community vs chasing foot traffic  45:00 – What's coming and how to get ahead of it Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    48 min
  6. Pricing Problems, Lazy Staff & Delivery Apps Killing Profit (Q&A Special)

    APR 7

    Pricing Problems, Lazy Staff & Delivery Apps Killing Profit (Q&A Special)

    You asked. Tim answered. In this Q&A special, four real owners share the exact problems keeping them up at night — and Tim gets into the specifics of each one.   No fluff. No theory. Just honest, practical answers to the questions most hospo owners are too afraid to say out loud. This episode covers: 00:00 – Is handmade baking even financially viable anymore or should I just switch to frozen? 07:00 – Standards are slipping. How do I fix it without becoming the boss everyone hates? 14:00 – Delivery apps are 45% of my sales. I have no idea if I'm actually making money on them. 18:00 –  thought scaling to three venues would make things easier. Somehow I feel more out of control than ever. If you're serious about building a profitable, sustainable restaurant — without working yourself into the ground — book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    24 min
  7. Surcharges Banned, Junior Rates Scrapped & Wages Rising Again: What's Coming for Hospo | April Hospo Update

    APR 7

    Surcharges Banned, Junior Rates Scrapped & Wages Rising Again: What's Coming for Hospo | April Hospo Update

    On the 31st of March, two major blows landed on the hospitality industry. And most owners didn't see them coming. In this month's industry update, Tim sits down with Wes Lambert — CEO of ARCA and the man in Parliament having these conversations on behalf of every café and restaurant owner in Australia — to break down exactly what's changed, what's coming, and what you need to do about it right now . This isn't doom and gloom for the sake of it. It's the information you need to make the right moves before the next wave hits. You'll hear: 00:00 – What just happened on March 31 (and why it matters)  02:30 – The surcharge ban explained: what it actually means for your margins  05:30 – You can't pass on merchant fees anymore — here's the real cost  07:00 – Junior wage rates getting scrapped: who it affects and when  09:30 – Why this will almost certainly roll out across all of hospo  11:00 – Rate rises coming in May, June and August  12:30 – Award wages rising 4.5–6%: how to budget for it now  13:30 – Payday super hitting 1 July — are you ready for the cash flow hit?  14:30 – Fuel levies up 30% and tourism down: the full picture  15:00 – Wes's headline for 2026: the great reset  16:00 – Why you must put your prices up this year (and how to do it right)  19:00 – What separates the operators who survive from the ones who don't  21:00 – Why joining an industry association matters more than ever right now Key takeaways: From 1 October, you cannot pass on merchant fees to customers — that's a 1–2% hit to your bottom line, starting nowJunior rates for 18, 19 and 20-year-olds are being phased out from December — and the rest of hospo is likely nextIf you haven't raised your prices by 10% in 2026, you will lose significant marginNot acting is a decision — and right now it's the most expensive one you can makeARCA has a seat at the table in Parliament. The more members they have, the louder the voice. If you're not on top of your pricing, your labour costs, and your margins right now — this is your signal. Book a free call with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac  Join ARCA at https://www.arca.org.au/  Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    24 min
  8. Fired, Broke & Starting Again: How Tony Kelly Rebuilt from Scratch

    APR 2

    Fired, Broke & Starting Again: How Tony Kelly Rebuilt from Scratch

    Tony Kelly had multiple restaurants across three states. Then one day, he walked into work and was handed a letter. He was out. In this episode, Tony breaks down the real story behind the comeback — the mistakes, the systems, the partnership lessons, the financial discipline, and the mindset shift that changed everything. If you’ve ever felt stretched, betrayed, burnt out, or one bad month away from disaster… This one will hit home. You’ll hear: 00:00 – The day Tony got forced out of his own business  06:30 – The financial reality: personal guarantees & starting over  10:30 – Opening Rice Boy with $600 in the bank  18:00 – Why tracking numbers weekly is non-negotiable  22:00 – “Why are you forecasting to fail?”  25:30 – The real key to successful partnerships  30:00 – No reservations, controlled capacity & protecting kitchen flow  36:00 – Designing venues for profit (and experience)  42:00 – Expensive failures & $1.7M lessons  46:30 – Why personal guarantees can destroy you  59:00 – Training problem or recruitment problem?  1:03:00 – The brutal truth about “passive” restaurant investments If you’re serious about building a profitable, sustainable restaurant — without risking your house — book a call with the Foodie Coaches team at foodiecoaches.com Follow along behind the scenes:  @foodie_coaches  @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.

    1h 6m
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About

1 in 4 restaurants ran at a loss last year.And if you’re honest?You’ve probably felt just one bad month away from being part of that stat.I’ve recorded a few episodes for this podcast now and after speaking with some of the best restaurant owners in Australia … nearly every single one of them has been through the same stuff that you’re facing right now.Whether it's finding staff, 80 hour weeks, rising supplier costs, struggling to balance family, no money left to pay yourself, fires, floods … you name it - the guests I’ve spoken to have seen it all.Some of them are now industry leaders and experts, with successful restaurants, franchises, turning over millions in revenue, and even stocking their products in supermarketsThis podcast is about what really made the difference.The stuff no one talks about.The mindset shifts, the messy moments, and the moves that actually worked.So if you’re: Sick of grinding with nothing to show for it Ready to finally pay yourself properly Wanting a business that runs without you there 24/7Then this is for you.Every week, we’ll break down how to make restaurants profitable againNot just with theory, but real strategies that are working right now.If you need help right now head over to foodiecoaches.com and book a call with our team otherwise hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re tuning in and I’ll see you every WednesdayCheck out the behind the scenes over at @foodie_coaches and @tim.kummerfeld

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